


Lost and Found

by ratbasturd



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, rhysothy, there are cute cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:43:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21670549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratbasturd/pseuds/ratbasturd
Summary: Rhys finds a lost cat and tries to find its owner. It's just nice, sweet fluff. :^)
Relationships: Timothy Lawrence/Rhys
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> if you're here, thank you for reading :^)

There weren’t many stray cats wandering the streets of Chicago, and if there were any, they were outdoor cats that had a home they could return to for food at night. Given these facts, Rhys had every right to be curious when an unfamiliar tabby cat wandered through his neighborhood, meowing and jumping at any car that passed by. An anxious little cat, he guessed. It was mostly grey with a bit of orange and white mixed in. Beautiful, really. 

What caught his attention was the way the streetlamp caught the tag of the cat’s collar. The outdoor cats in his neighborhood were generally left uncollared.

He wasn’t sure if he should pick up the cat or not; if it had some sort of disease, he wouldn’t want to bring it back home to his own cat—but he thought of Binx wandering the streets alone. Poor Binx would never last. He was too spoiled with his treats and nightly wet food to survive on his own. The closest survival instincts he had were the occasional bouts of energy in the middle of the night when he felt the need to suddenly chase a toy mouse. Even then, those nights were rare; Rhys would try to play with him, but to no avail. He was just lazy… and a bit fat.

It wasn’t until Rhys spotted an oncoming car that he sprang into action, sprinting into the road to stop the car from hitting the anxious wanderer of a cat. He coaxed it into his yard, then politely waved to the driver as an act of gratitude. He briefly recognized the driver as his coworker Yvette, who would probably ask him about the incident when he came into work on Monday.

He looked up at the sky briefly, then at the time on his watch. The sun was setting. His attention turned to the cat standing a few feet away from him. It would be a cold October night; he could already feel the briskness of the autumn air bringing goosebumps to his bare skin. 

“Stay here,” he told the cat. It probably couldn’t understand him, but when he saw it sit down on the chilly grass, he smiled proudly. “I’ll be right back.”

Rhys didn’t return until he had a bag of treats in his hand. While it would have only taken him thirty seconds to get the bag and return to the stray cat, Binx slowed his progress by begging for treats. He couldn’t resist his companion and spent a minute or two feeding him a few treats. Of course, Binx begged for more, but Rhys was on a mission.

“Maybe later, buddy,” he said soothingly and scratched his head. Binx responded with a loud purr.

“C’mere little guy,” the man coaxed the unfamiliar cat outside closer to himself. “Want some treats?” 

It wouldn’t move. He paused to think of any way he could convince it to come closer, then threw a treat at the cat. Really, he had intended to throw it  _ near _ it, but it didn’t exactly go as planned and the treat booped the cat on the nose. It jumped at first, but after sniffing for a moment, it ate the treat.

The process repeated until the cat was in front of Rhys; he’d throw a treat to it, it’d eat it, then want more and come a bit closer. All the while, Binx watched from his perch by the window, longing to be a part of the treat-eating. 

“Can I see your collar?” Rhys asked the cat gently as he slowly reached out to pet it. It let him, his eyebrows raising at the name and giving a laugh. “Theodore Rosiebelt? Is… is that seriously your name?” 

A meow.

He shook his head amusedly. “Alright, let’s go inside Theodore. What’d’ya say?”

Another meow.

Rhys cautiously picked up the cat and made his way inside. Binx wasn’t too happy to have another cat around and hissed, but quieted when Rhys patted his head. The man let Theodore into the spare bedroom, then collected supplies for him; a litter box, litter, food, water, and a few toys that he stole from Binx. He checked the tag of the mystery cat again to find a phone number in small letters on the back.

“We’ll get you home soon, Theodore.” Rhys smiled down at him, who seemed to be more relaxed than he was on the street. 

After giving the cat a pet and saying goodnight, Rhys made his way back to the master bedroom, where Binx was waiting for him with a look he swore was anger. He disregarded his cat’s unsavory attitude in favor of lying on his bed and pulling out his phone. Sure, he figured, calling random numbers isn’t the smartest, but at least he would possibly reunite a cat and his owner. If Binx escaped, he’d want the same done for him. That’s why he dialed the number. It took a few rings, but someone finally picked up.

“This is Tim,” A man answered, and he sounded absolutely exhausted.

“Hey, so… I found a cat-“ Rhys started, but the other person on the line interrupted him.

“Theodore? Did you find my Theodore? How is he? Is he okay? Where is he? Oh god, did he get hit by a car?” The mans words were rushed and nervous. 

“He’s alright,” Rhys quickly responded, “He was wandering around my neighborhood, so I coaxed him inside. It’s cold tonight.”

Tim didn’t respond for a few moments, but when he did, he sounded surprised. “Theodore came near you? He’s an anxious wreck, I’ll tell you. Doesn’t even want to come near me sometimes.” He paused. “I suppose you need my address.”

Rhys nodded. He soon realized he was stupid and that the man couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I’d love to return him to you. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing my own cat.”

And so, the man over the phone gave Rhys his address and politely asked that if Rhys happened to be a serial killer that he not show. He didn’t particularly care for being murdered, he joked.

The next morning, Rhys dressed in black skinny jeans and a pleasant Halloween jumper that was slightly too big for him. Unfortunately for him, that’s just how it went; he was too long and lanky, not that he minded. After styling his hair in its usual manor, he made sure to grab Binx’s harness and leash to put it on Theodore—there’s no way he’d lose that cat.

As it turned out, Theodore didn’t much care for cars. He got sick twice in Rhys’s nice car to the man’s dismay, despite the fact that it hadn’t been a long drive. When they arrived, he took off the cat harness, picked up Theodore, and carried him to the door of the tiny house, then rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door was opened to reveal a tired, disheveled man.

“I take it you’re Tim?” Rhys asked with a smile.

“That’s me. Thank you so much for returning Theodore. He’s my best friend,” he murmured in reply, gently taking his cat from Rhys’s arms and hugging him close. “I missed you, Teddy. If you ever run away again you’re in big trouble.”

The cat meowed.

“Please, come inside,” Tim insisted, even when Rhys politely declined. “I want to thank you.”

It didn’t take much convincing to make Rhys enter the modest home. It wasn’t anything special, but it was charming. He sat down at the dining room table, his legs crossed politely and hands resting on the table. It wasn’t long before Tim joined him and set two cups of coffee down on the table with sugar packets and little creamers, no longer holding his lost-now-found cat.

“How did you find him? I looked for him all night before you called.” Tim asked as he poured three creamers and two sugars into his coffee, then stirred it and took a sip.

“Poor little guy was wandering around my neighborhood looking pretty scared. I just happened to notice him.” Rhys would leave out how Theodore almost got hit by a car. “He really likes treats, huh?”

Suddenly, Theodore sprinted into the room and jumped onto the table, meowing incessantly as if he knew someone had been talking about treats. When Tim said he had no treats, the cat disappointedly jumped down. 

“He loves treats; he’ll eat anything.”

The two men talked about all things cats for what felt like hours, then smoothly transitioned into more conversation like they had been best friends for a long time. An outsider would never know that they had just met with how comfortable they were around each other.

Their chat ended with Tim taking Rhys to lunch to show his gratitude; but thankfully for the both of them, that wouldn’t be their last date.

**Author's Note:**

> I rushed the ending a bit but i still hope you enjoyed :^)


End file.
